7.62x51mm Rifles And Miniguns Adapted To Fire Longer-Range Polymer Cased 6.8mm Ammo In Tests
Ammunition maker True Velocity says it can give many guns that fire 7.62x51mm ammunition far better performance with just the swap of a barrel.
Ammunition maker True Velocity says it can give many guns that fire 7.62x51mm ammunition far better performance with just the swap of a barrel.
The hugely publicized modular firearm had been on its way toward becoming the Army’s small arms crown jewel in the early 2000s.
The U.S. Air Force has offered the first good look at how its new-ish GAU-5/A carbines squeeze in with other items inside a survival kit that the service’s pilots are now flying with under their ejection seats. The guns are converted standard M4 carbines with various new features, most notably a special locking system that allows users to break it down into two halves in 30 seconds or less and reassemble when necessary just as fast.
The new weapons reflect the service’s latest attempt to help infantry squads and other small units take on the enemy at longer ranges.
Evaluating Sig Sauer’s MCX Rattler will help refine its existing requirements for this type of gun ahead of a larger purchase.
The guns are both an important part of the country’s plans to modernize its military and a statement as to its future geopolitical ambitions.
The service says it’s interested in one design or family of firearms to replace every gun in the infantry platoon.
The service plans to test as many as eight different rifles, and wants designs that are combat ready now.
Under the latest plan, the service hopes it can cook up a new cartridge and buy the first prototypes of all-new firearms by 2020.
The proposed weapon sounds a lot like the gun one company has already shown to the Pentagon.